A PC Peripheral is generally plugged directly into the PC via an interface connector. Most commonly today, that connector is becoming the USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector, increasingly more replacing, e.g., IDE, RS232, and other interfaces. The invention relates to the use, in more than one way, of PC peripherals, i.e., any input or output devices which can be used to control, input data to, or output data from a desktop PC excluding the display device (monitor or display) that is normally connected to that PC. The invention relates to a display device that works in more than one mode, one mode being a slave to a host device (e.g., PC or STB), the other(s) modes being stand-alone function(s) contained in the display device (stand alone application/appliance function). A second peripheral is connected directly to the monitor (or display) via a wire or wirelessly. Data from that peripheral is used for stand-alone function(s) contained in the display device. For instance, a mouse can be used to control parameters or set-up of the display. This function occurs without intervention of the PC. Therefore, the display device has the circuitry and software onboard itself in order to interpret the data directly received from the peripheral. During the time interval wherein the display device is utilizing the data from the peripheral in question, this data is not passed on to the host device. Furthermore, when the display device is switched to “slave” mode, (e.g., into a mode wherein it serves as a monitor for a PC), the data from the peripheral is passed through to the host. This can be achieved either via a wire or wirelessly. The data is presented and processed in a manner consistent with industry standard peripherals, which the host can interpret in the same way in which it would a peripheral connected directly to itself.
For completeness, monitors used on the MacIntosh currently allow peripherals to be plugged into the monitor. However, these peripherals use a USB hub in the monitor. The hub is simply a repeater function. The monitor itself, however, does not use directly this data from the peripherals for a stand-alone functionality.
The re-use according to the invention of a peripheral for multiple functionalities saves cost, desk space and wiring complexity in comparison with the case wherein two or more different peripherals are to be used. In addition, connecting the peripherals to the monitor provides a more convenient and overseeable way to the user of physically configuring the PC or STB system. Moreover, the display monitor according to the invention can be used as an independent appliance, in addition to its conventionally being used as a peripheral to a PC or to another data processing system when properly hooked up.